Glamorgan star Colin Ingram was a key player in Glamorgan’s run to the quarter-finals of the 2016 NatWest Blast, smashing over 500 runs and 29 sixes, as well at taking key wickets along the way. We caught up with him to look ahead to this year’s competition and to discuss Glamorgan’s prospects…
In 2016 Glamorgan enjoyed a lot of success in the Blast, what can you take from last year into this year’s campaign?
We played a really exciting brand of cricket which was really encouraging and then when guys got into good form they took advantage of it and put in consistent performances, so it’s an exciting time for us. I also think we built exciting combinations and a lot of those faces are around this season so I’m looking forward to it and hope we can do the same this year.
From a personal perspective, what did you enjoy most about last year?
Being able to perform for most of the season and being able to do it regularly and maintain a high level throughout the season was particularly satisfying but also building a few more partnerships with guys that I hadn’t played much with, a guy like Nye (Aneurin Donald) and a few other like Lloydy (David Lloyd) who played well was very nice.
You bowled quite a lot in the Blast last year and took career best figures, is it something you’re starting to practice more?
I’ve definitely been working on it. Coming out to Glamorgan three years ago I wasn’t really bowling at all so it’s been a steady progress and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and fortunately having Jacques as Captain meant he seems to throw me the ball in strange scenarios like the first over of the game, so it’s allowed me to quickly improve that aspect of my game.
How do you prepare differently for a Championship game than a T20 match?
For me it’s more about tapping into the instincts side of the game. Four-day cricket is structured and you want to have a good solid game plan you can go through over and over again, whereas T20 cricket is an exciting format because you really get to let yourself go as a player and really trust your instinct and get your intensity right up.
Training involves trying to replicate that, mainly off the bowling machine and really getting the energy up and allowing yourself to play freely.
A few players had breakthrough seasons in 2016, are you expecting the same again this year?
I hope so. There’s always opportunity for someone to put up their hand and there will be a couple of new faces around so it will be nice if someone can really make a name for themselves to put the team in a good position.
Finally, what are your goals as a team and personally this season?
Team wise it’s about bouncing off last season and showing supporters and ourselves how good we can be again. There’s a lot of belief and hopefully we can get towards the back end of the tournament and be right up there like last year. Personally, it’s a big challenge to try and replicate last season. A lot has changed since then; I’m a lot stronger and fitter but we’re a year down the line so it’s a very exciting challenge and I’m thoroughly looking forward to it.